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JAMESTOWN 



AND THE 



Association for the Preservation of 
Virginia Antiquities. 




MARY NEWTON STANARD, 

Historian A. P. V. A. 




# 



PRINTED FOR THE SOCIETY 



WM. ELLIS JONES, 
RICHMOND, VA. 



• • • 



Publ. 



JAMESTOWN AND THE ASSOCIATION FOR 

THE PRESERVATION OF VIRGINIA 

ANTIQUITIES. 



Jamestown, the cradle of the American Republic, needs no advocate 
to set forth its claims to consideration. It makes its own plea in the 
fact that there was gained the first footing of our race upon the western 
shores of the Atlantic; there was the first Anglo-Saxon home, the first 
church — with its full God's acre — there was held the first legislative 
assembly in the new world. 

Eventful as was the life of the little town, it was but brief. After the 
removal (about the year 1700) of the seat of government of Virginia to 
Williamsburg, nine miles distant, the superior attractiveness and health- 
iulness of the new capital drew the population thitherwards until James- 
town was almost entirely abandoned. Finally, the only residents left 
were two planters who turned the town into farms, with the ruined 
church tower, surrounded by broken gravestones, standing alone and 
neglected among the green fields. 

Yet, in spite of this fact, and of its remoteness and inaccessibility, 
interest in a spot where so much history was made has always been 
strong enough to bring travellers to Virginia to visit it, and many and 
varied have been the reflections inspired by the solitary and venerable 
ruin. In even the earliest of these no mention is made of anything 
more than the tower and a few crumbling walls, scattered about. In 
many of them the washing away of the island is remarked upon, and 
belief expressed that almost all of the site of the ancient town had been 
already swallowed up by the river, which eats into the shore with an 
unremitting and powerful insistence. 

About t 854 a trench was dug near the tower and the dimensions of the 
foundations of the church ascertained, but it was soon filled up. Year 
after year it was the custom of relic-hunters to carry away bricks from 
the tower and pieces of the tombs, and year after year the river was 
making further inroads, but all of this time, though Jamestown was 
mentioned in thousands of books, and its name as the birth place of the 
United States was universally known, no attempt was made to rescue 
its remains from destruction, and not even a suggestion that anything 
should be done to preserve its site was offered. 

This great work was reserved for the Association for the Preservation 
of Virginia Antiquities. 

This Association was chartered in February, 1889, with Mrs. Fitzhugh 
Lee as president, a number of other prominent Virginia women as in- 
corporators and officers, and an advisory board of distinguished men. 



4 JAMESTOWN AND THE A. P. 

At the resignation of Mrs. Lee, at the end of the first year, Mrs. j^ 
Bryan was chosen to succeed her, and has held the office of presideii 
ever since. To her wise and faithful administration the success of the 
Association is largely due. While Richmond was made the home of the 
organization, branches were formed in various cities of Virginia and of 
the United States. Its object, as declared in its charter, is to "restore 
and preserve the ancient historic buildings and tombs in the State of 
Virginia and to acquire by purchase or gift the sites of such buildings 
and tombs with a view to their perpetuation and preservation." Its rev- 
enues have been from the beginning small — depending entirely upon 
dues of members and what money could be made by occasional enter- 
tainments. There have been so many calls for help that it has often- 
times been difficult to know what was the wisest disposition to make of 
the inadequate funds, yet during the fifteen years of its life the Associa- 
tion has been able to accomplish a creditable beginning towards the end 
/or which it was formed. Its most noteworthy achievements, outside of 
the work connected with Jamestown, have been the purchase, restoration 
and'preservation of the home of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg; 
of the old magazine, known as the " Powder Horn," in Williamsburg; 
the excavation and preservation of the foundations of the Colonial 
Capitol building, at Williamsburg; erection (by the Washington branch) 
of a memorial on the site of the Colonial Capitol; the placing of a tablet 
on the old lighthouse at Cape Henry memorializing the first landing of 
the first colonists (which was at this point); aid in restoring colonial 
churches, and numerous minor matters. 

While the object of the Association is a general one, Jamestown has 
always been its chief interest, and the work dearest to its heart that en- 
trusted to the Jamestown Committee, of which Mrs. Parke C. Bagby 
has been from the beginning the able and devoted chairman. Very 
early in its history the Association turned its attention towards securing 
possession of the church tower and the ground around it. In 1889 the 
first active steps toward this end were taken, largely through the instru- 
mentality of the Norfolk branch, of which Miss Mary J. Gait was direct- 
ress. As it was thought that the church and graveyard had, on account 
of extinction of the congregation, escheated to the State, an act of as- 
sembly was procured (approved March 1, 1892), by which all rights of 
the Commonwealth there were conveyed to the Association for the 
Preservation of Virginia Antiquities. Fortunately no further action was 
necessary; Jamestown island had become the property of Mr. Edward 
E. Barney, a gentleman capable of appreciating its historic associations, 
who had already turned his attention to the prevention of vandalism 
among the few relics that remained there. Moved by a broad and gen- 
erous spirit of patriotism, Mr. and Mrs. Barney, on learning the purposes 
and wishes of the Association, conveyed to it, by deed of gift, dated 
May 3, 1893, the twentv-two and a half acres, of land including the 







PORTIONS OP FOUNDATIONS EXCAVATED 
AT JAMESTOWN, 1903. 









^sTOWN AND THE A. P. V. A. 5 

., churchyard and Confederate fort. Joyfully accepting this gra- 
cious gift, the Association immediately took charge and had soon built 
a fence around the property and established a caretaker upon it, who 
was afterwards, by act of Legislature, invested with the powers of a 
constable. 

The next absolute and immediate need was at once seen to be pro- 
tection from encroachment of the river. Chiefly through the efforts of 
Mrs. J. L. M. Curry, of Washington, D. C.,an appropriation for building 
a breakwater was obtained from Congress, by act approved August 17, 
1894. Unfortunately the appropriation was insufficient and the break- 
water provided by it (which was completed on June 5, 1895), was soon 
beaten to pieces by the waves. 

Discouraged, but not disheartened, the ladies of the Association again 
appealed to Congress and another appropriation was secured, by act 
approved June 3, 1896. For various reasons work on the new break- 
water was not commenced for several years, but at last it was completed 
as far as the amount appropriated would admit, on November 16, 1901. 
It is a splendid example of engineering skill, protecting fully the part of 
the shore along which it extends, and giving promise that it will do so for 
a long time to come. The United States government never did a better 
piece of work than this. The breakwater was designed by Mr. Samuel H. 
Yonge, United States engineer in charge of James river improvements, 
and constructed under his supervision. Unfortunately, the appropriation 
only permitted the construction of such a substantial sea-wall for about 
half the exposed distance, beginning at the head of the island, and since 
190 1 the unprotected shore below it has been washing badly. It is the 
intention of the Association to use every effort to urge upon Congress 
during the present session, the completion of a work so well begun, and 
in this, everybody in the country interested in the preservation of this 
most historic spot can lend aid. 

In view of the fact that a large number of men and horses would be 
at work upon its property, the Association deemed it useless to attempt 
much in the way of beautifying its grounds until the breakwater should 
be finished, but roads were laid out, trees and flowers planted, the tower 
made secure against further damage from age or weather, and some 
little progress made in restoring tombs. The credit for the immediate 
superintendence of this part of the work during a number of years is 
due chiefly to Miss Mary Gait, of Williamsburg, who was succeeded in 
her watchfulness of the interests of the Association by Miss Mary Gar- 
rett, of the same place. 

The most important undertaking of the Association, at Jamestown, 
was begun in 1901. In May of that year, Mr. John Tyler, Jr. (a civil en- 
gineer, who most kindly gave his services), upon the invitation of the 
Jamestown Committee, and with the assistance of the local committee, 
Misses Gait and Garrett, began excavations in the churchyard — a small 






6 JAMESTOWN AND THE A. P. 

level grass-plat with a few old tombstones and knarled and half-de«_. 
trees scattered about — the whole enclosed by a crumbling brick wan. 
Some of the trees were uprooted, the turf was removed, and three feet 
underground were discovered the foundations of the church — with floor, 
aisles and chancel, in a wonderful state of preservation, considering 
that they had been buried and their dimensions forgotten so long that 
the wall around the little graveyard had been laid directly across the 
body of the building. Beyond these foundations, with three feet of 
grass-grown soil above them, also, the spade revealed seven low, box- 
shaped tombs, with the slabs bearing inscriptions unfortunately missing. 
Measurement of the foundations showed that the church had been fifty- 
five feet long, exclusive of the tower, and twenty-six wide, with walls 
three feet thick, aisles paved with brick, and chancel with tiles nine 
inches square. Later excavations in the chancel have revealed two 
floors beneath this upper one. Abundant evidences of fire were found 
in the debris beneath the level of the last floor of the church, and in a 
corner lay the sexton's tools, with bits of charred wood showing where 
the helves had been. They were burned out, doubtless, during Bacon's 
Rebellion in 1676, when Jamestown was destroyed by fire, at Bacon's 
command. It is evident that afterwards, when the church was rebuilt, 
the ruins were not entirely cleared out, but that a foot or two of rubbish 
was left and paved over to form the floor of the last church. Not far 
within the three-foot wall were found fragments of a thinner one, which, 
from its character, is believed to have been the substructure of a frame 
building — probably a relic of the earliest church built upon this spot. 

It was found that a large number of bodies had been buried in the 
church, and two tombstones were unearthed near the chancel. One of 
these, as may be seen from the inscription, is that of an early minister 
of the parish; the other is very noteworthy, as it is the only tomb ever 
found in America with indications of inlaid brasses such as are seen 
upon ancient monuments in England. The brasses themselves have 
disappeared, but the channels in the stone into which they fitted are 
plainly visible. These show the figure of a knight with pointed helmet 
and a scroll from the mouth . Partly under the tomb lay a skeleton 
with spurs near the heels, and fragments of gold lace at the shoulders. 
This interesting tomb bears no inscription, but has been dubbed by the 
enthusiastic excavators "the knight's tomb." Careful investigation 
makes it most probable that the unknown knight was Sir George Yeard- 
ley, one of the earliest governors of Virginia, who died in 1627. 

Where is the Longfellow who will immortalize this interesting find ? 

The remarkable and scholarly monograph on Jamestown by Mr. 
Samnel H. Yonge, which begins in the January number of the Virginia 
Magazine of History and Biography, and with which others who have 
studied the subject agree, shows that there is every reason to believe 
that a church stood on this exact spot as early as the year 16 19, and that 






^TOWN AND THE A. P. V. A. 7 

.iore, here met the first legislative assembly ever convened in 
i-vmerica. 

In the churchyard the skill of Mr. William Leal, stonemason (the 
efficient care-taker at Jamestown), has restored, as far as possible, the 
broken tombs and protected even the smallest fragment from further 
vandalism. 

The year 1903 brought great increase of interest to Jamestown. Dur- 
ing the fall and early winter a large block of brick foundations of five 
or six connected buildings was discovered by Mr. Yonge, and afterwards 
excavated and secured from destruction under his supervision. These 
foundations are on the ridge above the Confederate fort and extend for 
a distance of two hundred and forty feet, from the river bank inward. 
They include cellars and the steps leading into them, brick floors, large 
fire-places, &c. Mr. Yonge's monograph gives a minute description of 
these ruins and proves beyond a doubt that the building furthest from 
the river was the State House in existence in 1676, in which Nathaniel 
Bacon contested with Sir William Berkeley, and which was afterwards 
burned by the Rebel and his forces. 

It will be seen, then, that Jamestown is no longer only a name, but 
that now, through the labors of the Association for the Preservation of 
Virginia Antiquities, one may look upon the very spots where those first 
law-makers assembled, and where the stirring drama of Bacon's Rebel- 
lion was played. 

Mr. Yonge has located and placed upon the valuable map of James- 
town which his minute study of the early records has enabled him to 
make, many other interesting sites in this " Pompeii of America," as a 
recent tourist enthusiastically named the ancient town, and has even 
fixed, with almost absolute certainty, the exact point where the first set- 
tlers landed. For details of all of these discoveries and reasons for be- 
lief in them reference must be had to the monograph quoted. 

Each year interest in Jamestown and the work of the Association 
there has been stimulated by a largely attended pilgrimage to the sacred 
spot and a memorial celebration there, on the 13th of May, the anniver- 
sary of the first settlement. The earliest of them was held in 1807 — 
long before our Association was dreamt of, and others were held irreg- 
ularly after that, but since its foundation the Association has made a 
special feature of these celebrations, in which it has been effectually 
aided by William and Mary College. ... 

Many will doubtless ask what are the further purposes of the Asso- 
ciation in regard to Jamestown. First of all it is its intention, empha- 
sized by a resolution unanimously adopted by its last general meeting, 
never to convey away its property there. Its one object is to preserve 
and beautify the historic site in a manner worthy of all it stands for, but 
present needs are so pressing and means so limited that but few definite 



8 



JAMESTOWN AND THE A. P. 



plans for future work have been formed. First of all the completic 
the sea-wall is earnestly desired, and then that, as soon as practicable, 
all the ground owned by the Association be thoroughly examined and 
all foundations excavated and secured against decay. The beginning 
of a fund to erect a memorial to John Smith has already been raised, 
through the efforts of Mrs. Charles Washington Coleman, of Williams- 
burg, one of the incorporators of the Association and from the beginning 
one of its most active and devoted friends. Another hope of the 
Association is to have a portion of its land laid out as a formal 
garden, in the midst of which will stand a house of the style of archi- 
tecture contemporary with the first settlement, and which will contain a 
museum, accommodations for visitors, &c. Above all it is the cherished 
desire, in regard to buildings, that there shall be erected over and en- 
tirely outside of the foundations of the old church, a structure as much 
like the original as possible as to its walls, but which instead of a floor 
will show the unearthed foundations, tombs, and pavement, and whose 
windows shall contain memorials in stained glass of the doughty pioneers 
who first set up the flag and the cross of our motherland in the newly- 
found world of the west. 

This house, which will not be a church, but which will be a sacred 
place, will no doubt bear upon its walls a tablet with some such inscrip- 
tion as this: 

To the glory 

of 

God, our help in ages past, 

Our hope in years to come, 

and 

In grateful memory 

Of the ancient planters in Virginia 

and adventurers in England, 

who 

Through suffering and death, 

Evil report and loss of fortune 

Laid the foundations of our country. 



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